Mannitol hexanitrate is a powerful explosive. Physically, it is a powdery solid at normal temperature ranges, with density of 1.73 g/cm3. The chemical name is hexanitromannitol and it is also known as nitromannite, MHN, and nitromannitol, and by the trademarks Nitranitol and Mannitrin. It is more stable than nitroglycerin, and it is used in detonators.

Mannitol hexanitrate is a secondary explosive formed by the nitration of mannitol, a sugar alcohol. The product is used in medicine as a vasodilator and as an explosive in blasting caps. Its sensitivity is high, particularly at high temperatures (> 75 °C) where it is slightly more sensitive than nitroglycerine.Nitromannite is a class B explosive.

The production of pure MHN is not a trivial task, since most preparations will yield a mixture of MHN and lower esters (pentanitrate and lower).[1]

1.
Melting point
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The melting point of a solid is the temperature at which it changes state from solid to liquid at atmospheric pressure. At the melting point the solid and liquid phase exist in equilibrium, the melting point of a substance depends on pressure and is usually specified at standard pressure. When considered as the temperature of the change from liquid to solid. Because of the ability of some substances to supercool, the point is not considered as a characteristic property of a substance. For most substances, melting and freezing points are approximately equal, for example, the melting point and freezing point of mercury is 234.32 kelvins. However, certain substances possess differing solid-liquid transition temperatures, for example, agar melts at 85 °C and solidifies from 31 °C to 40 °C, such direction dependence is known as hysteresis. The melting point of ice at 1 atmosphere of pressure is close to 0 °C. In the presence of nucleating substances the freezing point of water is the same as the melting point, the chemical element with the highest melting point is tungsten, at 3687 K, this property makes tungsten excellent for use as filaments in light bulbs. Many laboratory techniques exist for the determination of melting points, a Kofler bench is a metal strip with a temperature gradient. Any substance can be placed on a section of the strip revealing its thermal behaviour at the temperature at that point, differential scanning calorimetry gives information on melting point together with its enthalpy of fusion. A basic melting point apparatus for the analysis of crystalline solids consists of an oil bath with a transparent window, the several grains of a solid are placed in a thin glass tube and partially immersed in the oil bath. The oil bath is heated and with the aid of the melting of the individual crystals at a certain temperature can be observed. In large/small devices, the sample is placed in a heating block, the measurement can also be made continuously with an operating process. For instance, oil refineries measure the point of diesel fuel online, meaning that the sample is taken from the process. This allows for more frequent measurements as the sample does not have to be manually collected, for refractory materials the extremely high melting point may be determined by heating the material in a black body furnace and measuring the black-body temperature with an optical pyrometer. For the highest melting materials, this may require extrapolation by several hundred degrees, the spectral radiance from an incandescent body is known to be a function of its temperature. An optical pyrometer matches the radiance of a body under study to the radiance of a source that has been previously calibrated as a function of temperature, in this way, the measurement of the absolute magnitude of the intensity of radiation is unnecessary. However, known temperatures must be used to determine the calibration of the pyrometer, for temperatures above the calibration range of the source, an extrapolation technique must be employed

2.
Jmol
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Jmol is computer software for molecular modelling chemical structures in 3-dimensions. Jmol returns a 3D representation of a molecule that may be used as a teaching tool and it is written in the programming language Java, so it can run on the operating systems Windows, macOS, Linux, and Unix, if Java is installed. It is free and open-source software released under a GNU Lesser General Public License version 2.0, a standalone application and a software development kit exist that can be integrated into other Java applications, such as Bioclipse and Taverna. A popular feature is an applet that can be integrated into web pages to display molecules in a variety of ways, for example, molecules can be displayed as ball-and-stick models, space-filling models, ribbon diagrams, etc. Jmol supports a range of chemical file formats, including Protein Data Bank, Crystallographic Information File, MDL Molfile. There is also a JavaScript-only version, JSmol, that can be used on computers with no Java, the Jmol applet, among other abilities, offers an alternative to the Chime plug-in, which is no longer under active development. While Jmol has many features that Chime lacks, it does not claim to reproduce all Chime functions, most notably, Chime requires plug-in installation and Internet Explorer 6.0 or Firefox 2.0 on Microsoft Windows, or Netscape Communicator 4.8 on Mac OS9. Jmol requires Java installation and operates on a variety of platforms. For example, Jmol is fully functional in Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Google Chrome, fast and Scriptable Molecular Graphics in Web Browsers without Java3D

3.
Pentaerythritol tetranitrate
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Pentaerythritol tetranitrate, also known as PENT, PENTA, TEN, corpent, penthrite, is the nitrate ester of pentaerythritol, and is structurally very similar to nitroglycerin. Penta refers to the five atoms of the neopentane skeleton. PETN is one of the most powerful explosive materials known, with an effectiveness factor of 1.66. When mixed with a plasticizer, PETN forms a plastic explosive, along with RDX it is the main ingredient of Semtex. PETN is also used as a drug to treat certain heart conditions. Pentaerythritol tetranitrate was first prepared and patented in 1894 by the explosives manufacturer Rheinisch-Westfälische Sprengstoff A. G. of Cologne, the production of PETN started in 1912, when the improved method of production was patented by the German government. PETN was used by the German Military in World War I and it was also used in the MG FF/M autocannons and many other weapon systems of the Luftwaffe in World War II, specifically in the high explosive Minengeschoß shell. PETN forms eutectic mixtures with some liquid or molten aromatic nitro compounds, due to its highly symmetrical structure, PETN is resistant to attack by many chemical reagents, it does not hydrolyze in water at room temperature or in weaker alkaline aqueous solutions. Water at 100 °C or above causes hydrolysis to dinitrate, presence of 0. 1% nitric acid accelerates the reaction, the chemical stability of PETN is of interest, because of the presence of PETN in aging weapons. Neutron radiation degrades PETN, producing carbon dioxide and some pentaerythritol dinitrate and trinitrate, gamma radiation increases the thermal decomposition sensitivity of PETN, lowers melting point by few degrees Celsius, and causes swelling of the samples. Like other nitrate esters, the degradation mechanism is the loss of nitrogen dioxide. Studies were performed on thermal decomposition of PETN, in the environment, PETN undergoes biodegradation. Some bacteria denitrate PETN to trinitrate and then dinitrate, which is further degraded. PETN has low volatility and low solubility in water, and therefore has low bioavailability for most organisms and its toxicity is relatively low, and its transdermal absorption also seems to be low. It poses a threat for aquatic organisms and it can be degraded to pentaerythritol by iron. Production is by the reaction of pentaerythritol with concentrated acid to form a precipitate which can be recrystallized from acetone to give processable crystals. Variations of a method first published in a US Patent 2,370,437 by Acken, PETN is manufactured by numerous manufacturers as a powder, or together with nitrocellulose and plasticizer as thin plasticized sheets. PETN residues are easily detectable in hair of people handling it, the highest residue retention is on black hair, some residues remain even after washing

4.
Detonator
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A detonator, frequently a blasting cap, is a device used to trigger an explosive device. Detonators can be chemically, mechanically, or electrically initiated, the two being the most common. The commercial use of explosives uses electrical detonators or the capped fuse which is a length of safety fuse to which an ordinary detonator has been crimped, many detonators primary explosive is a material called ASA compound. This compound is formed from lead azide, lead styphnate and aluminium and is pressed into place above the charge, usually TNT or tetryl in military detonators. Other materials such as DDNP are also used as the charge to reduce the amount of lead emitted into the atmosphere by mining and quarrying operations. Old detonators used mercury fulminate as the primary, often mixed with potassium chlorate to yield better performance. A blasting cap is a small sensitive primary explosive device used to detonate a larger, more powerful and less sensitive secondary explosive such as TNT, dynamite. Blasting caps come in a variety of types, including caps, electric caps. They are used in mining, excavation, and demolition. Electric types are set off by a short burst of current conducted from a machine by a long wire to the cap to ensure safety. Traditional fuse caps have a fuse which is ignited by a flame source, the need for detonators such as blasting caps came from the development of safer explosives. Different explosives require different amounts of energy to detonate, most commercial explosives are formulated with a high activation energy, to make them stable and safe to handle so they will not explode if accidentally dropped, mishandled, or exposed to fire. However they are difficult to detonate intentionally, and require a small initiating explosion. This is provided by a detonator, a detonator contains an easy-to-ignite primary explosive that provides the initial activation energy to start the detonation in the main charge. Explosives commonly used in detonators include mercury fulminate, lead azide, lead styphnate and tetryl, Blasting caps and some detonators are stored separately and not inserted into the main explosive charge until just before use, keeping the main charge safe. Detonators are hazardous for untrained personnel to handle since they contain primary explosive and they are sometimes not recognized as explosives due to their appearance, leading to injuries. Ordinary detonators usually take the form of ignition-based explosives, whilst they are mainly used in commercial operations, ordinary detonators are still used in military operations. This form of detonator is most commonly initiated using safety fuse, well known detonators are lead azide, Pb2, silver azide and mercury fulminate

5.
European Chemicals Agency
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ECHA is the driving force among regulatory authorities in implementing the EUs chemicals legislation. ECHA helps companies to comply with the legislation, advances the safe use of chemicals, provides information on chemicals and it is located in Helsinki, Finland. The Agency, headed by Executive Director Geert Dancet, started working on 1 June 2007, the REACH Regulation requires companies to provide information on the hazards, risks and safe use of chemical substances that they manufacture or import. Companies register this information with ECHA and it is freely available on their website. So far, thousands of the most hazardous and the most commonly used substances have been registered, the information is technical but gives detail on the impact of each chemical on people and the environment. This also gives European consumers the right to ask whether the goods they buy contain dangerous substances. The Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulation introduces a globally harmonised system for classifying and labelling chemicals into the EU. This worldwide system makes it easier for workers and consumers to know the effects of chemicals, companies need to notify ECHA of the classification and labelling of their chemicals. So far, ECHA has received over 5 million notifications for more than 100000 substances, the information is freely available on their website. Consumers can check chemicals in the products they use, Biocidal products include, for example, insect repellents and disinfectants used in hospitals. The Biocidal Products Regulation ensures that there is information about these products so that consumers can use them safely. ECHA is responsible for implementing the regulation, the law on Prior Informed Consent sets guidelines for the export and import of hazardous chemicals. Through this mechanism, countries due to hazardous chemicals are informed in advance and have the possibility of rejecting their import. Substances that may have effects on human health and the environment are identified as Substances of Very High Concern 1. These are mainly substances which cause cancer, mutation or are toxic to reproduction as well as substances which persist in the body or the environment, other substances considered as SVHCs include, for example, endocrine disrupting chemicals. Companies manufacturing or importing articles containing these substances in a concentration above 0 and they are required to inform users about the presence of the substance and therefore how to use it safely. Consumers have the right to ask the retailer whether these substances are present in the products they buy, once a substance has been officially identified in the EU as being of very high concern, it will be added to a list. This list is available on ECHA’s website and shows consumers and industry which chemicals are identified as SVHCs, Substances placed on the Candidate List can then move to another list

6.
Nitrate
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Nitrate is a polyatomic ion with the molecular formula NO−3 and a molecular mass of 62.0049 g/mol. Nitrates also describe the functional group RONO2. These nitrate esters are a class of explosives. The anion is the base of nitric acid, consisting of one central nitrogen atom surrounded by three identically bonded oxygen atoms in a trigonal planar arrangement. The nitrate ion carries a charge of −1. This arrangement is used as an example of resonance. Like the isoelectronic carbonate ion, the ion can be represented by resonance structures. A common example of a nitrate salt is potassium nitrate. A rich source of nitrate in the human body comes from diets rich in leafy green foods, such as spinach. NO3- is the active component within beetroot juice and other vegetables. Nitrite and water are converted in the body to nitric oxide, nitrate salts are found naturally on earth as large deposits, particularly of nitratine, a major source of sodium nitrate. Nitrates are found in man-made fertilizers, as a byproduct of lightning strikes in earths nitrogen-oxygen rich atmosphere, nitric acid is produced when nitrogen dioxide reacts with water vapor. Nitrates are mainly produced for use as fertilizers in agriculture because of their solubility and biodegradability. The main nitrate fertilizers are ammonium, sodium, potassium, several million kilograms are produced annually for this purpose. The second major application of nitrates is as oxidizing agents, most notably in explosives where the oxidation of carbon compounds liberates large volumes of gases. Sodium nitrate is used to air bubbles from molten glass. Mixtures of the salt are used to harden some metals. Explosives and table tennis balls are made from celluloid, although nitrites are the nitrogen compound chiefly used in meat curing, nitrates are used in certain specialty curing processes where a long release of nitrite from parent nitrate stores is needed

7.
Nitric oxide
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Nitric oxide is a molecular, chemical compound with chemical formula of ·NO. One of several oxides of nitrogen, it is a gas under standard conditions. Nitric oxide is a free radical—i. e and its bonding structure includes an unpaired electron, represented by the dot on the nitrogen atom—and it is in the class of heteronuclear diatomic molecules that are of historic theoretical interest. It is an important intermediate in the chemical industry. It is also produced naturally by the high air temperatures produced along the path of lightning in thunderstorms. In mammals including humans, nitric oxide is an important cellular signaling molecule involved in physiological and pathological processes. It is a powerful vasodilator with a short half-life of a few seconds in the blood, long-known pharmaceuticals such as nitroglycerine and amyl nitrite were found to be precursors to nitric oxide more than a century after their first use in medicine. Low levels of nitric oxide production are important in protecting organs such as the liver from ischemic damage, Nitric oxide production is associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and is essential for hepatic lipid metabolism under starvation. As a consequence of its importance in neuroscience, physiology, and immunology, research into its function led to the 1998 Nobel Prize for discovering the role of nitric oxide as a cardiovascular signalling molecule. It is classified as a hazardous substance in the United States as defined in Section 302 of the U. S. Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, and is subject to reporting requirements by facilities which produce, store. When exposed to oxygen, nitric oxide is converted into nitrogen dioxide,2 ·NO + O2 →2 NO2 This conversion has been speculated as occurring via the ONOONO intermediate. In water, nitric oxide reacts with oxygen and water to form HNO2 or nitrous acid, nitrosyl iodide can form but is an extremely short-lived species and tends to reform I2. 2 ·NO + Cl2 →2 NOCl Nitroxyl is the form of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide dimer N2O2 is formed when nitric oxide is cooled, Nitric oxide can also react directly with sodium methoxide, forming sodium formate and nitrous oxide. So-called NONOate compounds are used for nitric oxide generation. Nitric oxide reacts with all metals to give complexes called metal nitrosyls. The most common bonding mode of nitric oxide is the linear type

8.
Cell signaling
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Cell signaling is part of any communication process that governs basic activities of cells and coordinates all cell actions. The ability of cells to perceive and correctly respond to their microenvironment is the basis of development, tissue repair, errors in signaling interactions and cellular information processing are responsible for diseases such as cancer, autoimmunity, and diabetes. By understanding cell signaling, diseases may be treated effectively and, theoretically. Traditional work in biology has focused on studying individual parts of cell signaling pathways, systems biology research helps us to understand the underlying structure of cell signaling networks and how changes in these networks may affect the transmission and flow of information. Such networks are complex systems in their organization and may exhibit a number of emergent properties including bistability and ultrasensitivity, analysis of cell signaling networks requires a combination of experimental and theoretical approaches including the development and analysis of simulations and modeling. Long-range allostery is often a significant component of signaling events. Cell signaling has been most extensively studied in the context of human diseases, however, cell signaling may also occur between the cells of two different organisms. In many mammals, early embryo cells exchange signals with cells of the uterus, in the human gastrointestinal tract, bacteria exchange signals with each other and with human epithelial and immune system cells. For the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae during mating, some cells send a signal into their environment. The mating factor peptide may bind to a surface receptor on other yeast cells. Cell signaling can be classified to be mechanical and biochemical based on the type of the signal, mechanical signals are the forces exerted on the cell and the forces produced by the cell. These forces can both be sensed and responded by the cells, biochemical signals are the biochemical molecules such as proteins, lipids, ions and gases. These signals can be categorized based on the distance between signaling and responder cells, Signaling within, between, and amongst cells is subdivided into the following classifications, Intracrine signals are produced by the target cell that stay within the target cell. Autocrine signals are produced by the cell, are secreted. Sometimes autocrine cells can target cells close by if they are the type of cell as the emitting cell. An example of this are immune cells and these signals are transmitted along cell membranes via protein or lipid components integral to the membrane and are capable of affecting either the emitting cell or cells immediately adjacent. Paracrine signals target cells in the vicinity of the emitting cell, endocrine cells produce hormones that travel through the blood to reach all parts of the body. Cells communicate with each other via direct contact, over short distances, some cell–cell communication requires direct cell–cell contact

9.
Density
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The density, or more precisely, the volumetric mass density, of a substance is its mass per unit volume. The symbol most often used for density is ρ, although the Latin letter D can also be used. Mathematically, density is defined as mass divided by volume, ρ = m V, where ρ is the density, m is the mass, and V is the volume. In some cases, density is defined as its weight per unit volume. For a pure substance the density has the numerical value as its mass concentration. Different materials usually have different densities, and density may be relevant to buoyancy, purity, osmium and iridium are the densest known elements at standard conditions for temperature and pressure but certain chemical compounds may be denser. Thus a relative density less than one means that the floats in water. The density of a material varies with temperature and pressure and this variation is typically small for solids and liquids but much greater for gases. Increasing the pressure on an object decreases the volume of the object, increasing the temperature of a substance decreases its density by increasing its volume. In most materials, heating the bottom of a results in convection of the heat from the bottom to the top. This causes it to rise relative to more dense unheated material, the reciprocal of the density of a substance is occasionally called its specific volume, a term sometimes used in thermodynamics. Density is a property in that increasing the amount of a substance does not increase its density. Archimedes knew that the irregularly shaped wreath could be crushed into a cube whose volume could be calculated easily and compared with the mass, upon this discovery, he leapt from his bath and ran naked through the streets shouting, Eureka. As a result, the term eureka entered common parlance and is used today to indicate a moment of enlightenment, the story first appeared in written form in Vitruvius books of architecture, two centuries after it supposedly took place. Some scholars have doubted the accuracy of this tale, saying among other things that the method would have required precise measurements that would have been difficult to make at the time, from the equation for density, mass density has units of mass divided by volume. As there are units of mass and volume covering many different magnitudes there are a large number of units for mass density in use. The SI unit of kilogram per metre and the cgs unit of gram per cubic centimetre are probably the most commonly used units for density.1,000 kg/m3 equals 1 g/cm3. In industry, other larger or smaller units of mass and or volume are often more practical, see below for a list of some of the most common units of density

10.
TNT equivalent
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TNT equivalent is a convention for expressing energy, typically used to describe the energy released in an explosion. The ton of TNT is a unit of energy defined by convention to be 4.184 gigajoules. The convention intends to compare the destructiveness of an event with that of conventional explosives, the kiloton is a unit of energy equal to 4.184 terajoules. The megaton is a unit of equal to 4.184 petajoules. The kiloton and megaton of TNT have traditionally used to describe the energy output. The TNT equivalent appears in various nuclear weapon control treaties, and has used to characterize the energy released in such other highly destructive events as an asteroid impact. A gram of TNT releases 2673–6702 J upon explosion, the energy liberated by one gram of TNT was arbitrarily defined as a matter of convention to be 4184 J, which is exactly one kilocalorie. The measured, pure heat output of a gram of TNT is only 2724 J, alternative TNT equivalency can be calculated as a function of when in the detonation the value is measured and which property is being compared. A kiloton of TNT can be visualized as a cube of TNT8.46 metres on a side, the RE factor is the relative mass of TNT to which an explosive is equivalent, the greater the RE, the more powerful the explosive. This enables engineers to determine the proper masses of different explosives when applying blasting formulas developed specifically for TNT. For example, if a timber-cutting formula calls for a charge of 1 kg of TNT, then based on octanitrocubanes RE factor of 2.38, using PETN, engineers would need 1. 0/1.66 kg to obtain the same effects as 1 kg of TNT. With ANFO or ammonium nitrate, they would require 1. 0/0.74 kg or 1. 0/0.42 kg, *, TBX or EBX, in a small, confined space, may have over twice the power of destruction. The total power of aluminized mixtures strictly depends on the condition of explosions, guide for the Use of the International System of Units. National Institute of Standards and Technology, nuclear Weapons FAQ Part 1.3 Rhodes, Richard. The Making of the Atomic Bomb, cooper, Paul W. Explosives Engineering, New York, Wiley-VCH, ISBN 0-471-18636-8 HQ Department of the Army, Field Manual 5-25, Explosives and Demolitions, Washington, D. C. Pentagon Publishing, pp. 83–84, ISBN 0-9759009-5-1 Explosives - Compositions, Alexandria, VA, thermobaric Explosives, Advanced Energetic Materials,2004. THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS, nap. edu, retrieved September 2004

11.
Diethylene glycol dinitrate
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Diethylene glycol dinitrate is a colorless, odorless, viscous, oily liquid, with specific gravity 1.4092 at 0 °C and 1.3846 at 20 °C, freezing point −11. Partial pressure is reported as 0.007 mmHg at 22.4 °C and 760 mmHg and it is readily miscible in most non-polar solvents, methanol, and cold acetic acid. Solubility in water and ethanol is very low, while chemically similar to a number of powerful high explosives, pure diethylene glycol dinitrate is extremely hard to initiate and will not propagate a detonation wave. It inflames only with difficulty unless first atomized, and burns placidly even in quantity and it was widely used in this capacity during World War II. It also found use as a desensitizer in nitroglycerine and nitroglycol-based explosives such as dynamite. It is also used as plasticizer for energetic materials, if ingested, like nitroglycerine, it produces rapid vasodilation through the release of nitrogen monoxide, NO. Popularly termed nitric oxide, NO is a signaling molecule that relaxes smooth muscle. Consequently, diethylene glycol dinitrate has occasionally been used medically to relieve angina, the rationale is that the concurrent headache it induces is somewhat less severe than other nitro compounds. Triethylene glycol dinitrate, diethylene glycol dinitrate, and trimethylolethane trinitrate are being considered as replacements for nitroglycerin in propellants. TNT equivalent RE factor W. H. Rinkenbach, Industrial Engineering Chemistry v19 p925 Note, military applications referenced in Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War 2, Gen. Ed. Chris Bishop, c.2003 Friedman/Fairfax NYNY, ISBN 1-58663-762-2

12.
Simplified molecular-input line-entry system
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The simplified molecular-input line-entry system is a specification in form of a line notation for describing the structure of chemical species using short ASCII strings. SMILES strings can be imported by most molecule editors for conversion back into two-dimensional drawings or three-dimensional models of the molecules, the original SMILES specification was initiated in the 1980s. It has since modified and extended. In 2007, a standard called OpenSMILES was developed in the open-source chemistry community. Other linear notations include the Wiswesser Line Notation, ROSDAL and SLN, the original SMILES specification was initiated by David Weininger at the USEPA Mid-Continent Ecology Division Laboratory in Duluth in the 1980s. The Environmental Protection Agency funded the project to develop SMILES. It has since modified and extended by others, most notably by Daylight Chemical Information Systems. In 2007, a standard called OpenSMILES was developed by the Blue Obelisk open-source chemistry community. Other linear notations include the Wiswesser Line Notation, ROSDAL and SLN, in July 2006, the IUPAC introduced the InChI as a standard for formula representation. SMILES is generally considered to have the advantage of being slightly more human-readable than InChI, the term SMILES refers to a line notation for encoding molecular structures and specific instances should strictly be called SMILES strings. However, the term SMILES is also used to refer to both a single SMILES string and a number of SMILES strings, the exact meaning is usually apparent from the context. The terms canonical and isomeric can lead to confusion when applied to SMILES. The terms describe different attributes of SMILES strings and are not mutually exclusive, typically, a number of equally valid SMILES strings can be written for a molecule. For example, CCO, OCC and CC all specify the structure of ethanol, algorithms have been developed to generate the same SMILES string for a given molecule, of the many possible strings, these algorithms choose only one of them. This SMILES is unique for each structure, although dependent on the algorithm used to generate it. These algorithms first convert the SMILES to a representation of the molecular structure. A common application of canonical SMILES is indexing and ensuring uniqueness of molecules in a database, there is currently no systematic comparison across commercial software to test if such flaws exist in those packages. SMILES notation allows the specification of configuration at tetrahedral centers, and these are structural features that cannot be specified by connectivity alone and SMILES which encode this information are termed isomeric SMILES